Minister Edelstein says Six Day War ´changed the standing of Israel
in the eyes of Jews across the world´

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As one of the “youngest” holidays in Jewish tradition, Jerusalem Day
holds a special place in the Jewish calendar today. It marks the
reunification of Jerusalem during the Six Day War of 1967, the first
time that the entire city had come under Jewish sovereignty in
thousands of years. Even before King David conquered and built his
monarchy in Jerusalem over 3,000 years ago in 1000 BCE, the city has
always been the most holy city in Jewish tradition. There was never,
however, an official Jewish holiday that honored the city until after
June 1967.

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When Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE, the tragic event
spurred thousands of years of mourning for the sacred capital. The
remembrance of the destruction of Jerusalem and hope for its
rebuilding manifested itself in Jewish holidays, prayers and even on
the happiest of occasions—weddings --with the groom’s breaking of the
glass cup. Jews would turn and pray in the direction of Jerusalem
three times a day. There were even efforts throughout history where
Jewish people attempted to restore political sovereignty over the
city and re-establish it as the national capital.

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For Yuli Edelstein (Likud), the Israeli Minister of the Public
Affairs and Diaspora, who as a Russian refusenik was sentenced three
years in a Soviet labor camp, Jerusalem Day holds deep significance.
Tazpit News Agency interviewed the minister in light of Jerusalem Day
which falls on Sunday, May 20 (Iyar 28) this year.

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“I was very young when the Six Day War happened and I remember
everyone around me being terribly scared,” Edelstein told Tazpit News
Agency. “According to reports on Soviet radio, Israel was
disappearing.”

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“A close friend of the family came by to tell us that the Soviet
radio reports were lies. ´I just heard that the Arab armies destroyed
Israel not once, but twice!´ he told my parents."

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Edelstein grew up under the repressive and restrictive policies of
the Soviet Union era, which muted Jewish traditional and cultural
life for decades. State-sponsored anti-Semitism also prevented Jews
from working in certain government sectors and advancing in their
work.

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“The reunification of Jerusalem, the Temple Mount in Israel’s hands,
and the outcome of the Six Day War, changed the standing of Israel in
the eyes of Jews across the world, but especially for the Jews in the
former Soviet Union,” said Edelstein.

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“For at least two million Soviet Jews, a reunited Jerusalem brought a
feeling that there is a homeland and that they must start fighting
for the existence of Israel. There was a whole change of attitude—one
from relief to pride.”

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Edelstein explained that his family felt a great sense of hope now
that Jerusalem had come under Israel’s hands.” “We felt great relief
when we heard later that Jerusalem was actually in the hands of
Israel and not in the hands of the Arab armies from Egypt, Syria, and
Jordan. The Jews in Russia and the Ukraine were astonished that
little Israel could win the war.”

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Edelstein himself was born in Czernowitz in what is now the former
Soviet Union. In 1979, he applied for an exit visa to Israel but was
refused as Soviet policy rarely allowed its residents to emigrate and
so Edelstein became a dissident. As a Russian refusenik, Edelstein
was actively involved in Zionist circles in Moscow and taught Hebrew
secretly. He was arrested by the KGB in 1984 on false charges of drug
possession and was sentenced to three years in a grueling Soviet
labor camp. He was released in 1987 and was finally allowed to
immigrate to Israel with his family.